Irene wandered around the aisles of the grocery store with a bar of chocolate and a package of strawberries in a basket. She was swinging the basket wildly and humming one of her own songs as she searched for the item she was going to give Wendy.

   When she finally arrived at the right aisle, she knew she was late meeting Wendy, “I really have to work on my English, speaking and reading,” she thought to herself.

   She quickly ran down the aisle but her choices were unfortunately limited. After looking carefully she picked the item up and examined it,“This is really cheesy,” she chuckled, “but at least it’s memorable.”

   When Irene reached the cash register, her phone began to ring, but she couldn’t answer, "Probably Wendy," she thought.

   She was the next person in line, and placed her basket up where the items could be scanned. When the cashier reached the item to ring it, she laughed lightly.Irene noticed and smiled back, “It’s special…a surprise….for someone I-I….know,” she managed to say.

   The cashier nodded that she understood, “Is it for her?” she pointed at Wendy discreetly.

   “Yes,” Irene smiled and so did the cashier.

   When the strawberries and chocolate had been placed in one bag, the cashier looked at Irene and motioned for her to come closer.

   “If this is a surprise, go ahead and put it in your bag separately, that way it will stay that way,”

   “Thank you,” Irene said.

   The cashier slid the item in her personal bag and sent Irene on her way.

   Irene and Wendy had left in the late afternoon, but arrived in the morning Seoul time to gleaming sunlight. They made their way through the airport, aware that a photo could be taken anytime and finally made it to collect their bags, hoping their manager was already there to pick them up.

   On the plane they’d decided that being open with the other two girls was going to be there best option, and though Irene still felt a tinge of worry, she reassured Wendy again that everything would work out one way or another. Tonight would be their first reckoning, the meeting Irene had planned was close at hand.

   Getting their bags, they sat and Irene called their manager who was on his way. He soon called back and said he would be in as quickly as he could park.

   After a few more minutes, they saw their manager walking briskly towards them in a crowd, he had a scowl on his face and was pointing behind them. They waved to him, and before they could see where he was pointing, suddenly everything went dark.

   Someone was covering their eyes. They struggled a bit, but couldn’t break free.

   A voice that seemed familiar rang out, ”Welcome home Unnies.”

   It was Joy, evil Joy, and Seulgi standing behind them.

   “My gosh,” said Wendy, “I didn’t know what was going on.”

   “Way to go guys, you scared us,” Irene said.

   “We used our height for an advantage,” said Joy.

   Wendy and Irene glared. Seulgi and Joy high-fived.

   They all laughed and took turns hugging, “We’re glad to have you back, Joy was beginning to bore me,” Seulgi joked.

   “I played video games with you all week….? What else did you want?” Joy pouted.

   “Okay, no arguing till we get you two home,” Manager said arriving on the scene, “let’s help Wendy and Irene with their bags,  guys.”

   “Yes, sir,” Joy answered with a military salute.

   They all headed off to a waiting van, that would take them to a waiting dorm,  that would be the venue for a discussion that only Wendy and Irene were aware of.

   They finally made it to the dorm, Seulgi and Joy stayed in the living room to let Wendy and Irene put their things away. While Wendy was busy putting her clothes away in their shared closet, Irene snuck to her bag and pulled out the surprise she had been preparing for days. She placed it on the nightstand that sat between their beds.

   “Wendy, will you come here for a moment?” Irene asked as she sat on her own bed.

   “Sure, let me hang up this sweatshirt,” she answered.

   Irene smiled, even though the surprise was small she was excited to let Wendy see it.

   Wendy finally walked into the bedroom, “Did you need help with anything?”

   “No, do you notice anything different about the room?” Irene asked.

   Wendy looked around but couldn’t find anything different, “No.”

   “Are you sure?” Irene nodded her head in the direction of the nightstand.

   Wendy looked and was definitely surprised.

   “Where did you get this? How?”

   “I have my ways,” Irene replied, “I know it’s a little cheesy, but I thought it would be a reminder of the time we spent together at the cabin, I wanted to give it to you before the meeting.”

   Wendy walked closer and picked up a frame that had the picture they’d taken in front of the cabin together. The picture Irene had wanted to take.

   “Where did you get this frame?” Wendy laughed. It was a cheap frame that said Welcome to Canada with a flag, and a moose waving on it.

   Irene laughed as well, “Remember when I forgot the time walking around the grocery store? I picked it out then. I know it’s cheap, but they didn’t have much to choose from.”

   “It’s perfect,” Wendy leaned in and pecked Irene’s lips. She widened her eyes realizing what she’d just done.

   “It’s okay, Wan-ah, they’re in the living room, we’re going to have a meeting about it tonight anyway, so let me kiss you,” Irene kissed Wendy softly.

   “No matter what they say, you still have me.”

   “Let’s not short-change them yet, I have a feeling that they’ll be on our side,” Irene said.

   “You’re right.”

   They both smiled.

   Irene told everyone that after dinner they would have a meeting to talk about the week they’d had. She had ordered Seulgi and Joy’s favorite foods, and hoped it would lighten the mood before the serious talk later.

   The four ate rather quickly, but Seulgi and Joy laughed and talked the whole time, while Irene stayed silent as she ate, and Wendy barely touched her food.

   After they finished, Irene and Wendy told the other two to go to the living room while they cleaned up.

   “You hardly ate anything, Wan-ah, I know this is nerve-wracking, but we’ll get through it.”

   “I know, my stomach was in knots while they ate,” Wendy said.

   “Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

   Joining Seulgi, and Joy in the living room, the pair seemed ready for whatever was about to come, even though Wendy still looked nervous

   “Is something wrong, Wendy? You didn’t seem like your normal self at dinner,” Seulgi said.

   “She’s right, Irene, you never said a word the whole time,” Joy said, “What’s wrong?”

   “There’s nothing wrong…” Wendy replied her hands shaking.

   “She’s right, there’s nothing wrong,” Irene said, “but there is something that we have to tell you guys. It’s about Wendy and I….we…

That’s the end for now everyone! Thank you so much for reading this and sending me great comments and feedback. I know that this part of the story ends in a cliffhanger, but I’m not going to leave you hanging for too long. Volume 2 is in the works, and I have that story pre-panned. It will have more chapters than this volume. I am hoping to start posting those chapters next week if possible. Thanks again for reading this! I started this for fun and am really glad I did.  If you have any guesses on what may happen next, let me know in the comments. I look forward to everyone’s thoughts!